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Mercury

Full Text of Article by Corey G. Johnson of The Daily Reflector

Mercury Public Hearing in Winterville

Posted by The Daily Reflector on Friday, June 9, 2006:

Speakers: Emissions Proposal should be Tougher

By Corey G. Johnson
The Daily Reflector
Friday, June 09, 2006

WINTERVILLE — Energy and environmental groups descended on Pitt County Thursday to participate in a meeting about a state proposal for controlling mercury emissions.

The public hearing, held before approximately 65 at Pitt County College's Leslie Building, was the final of three meetings organized by the state Environmental Management Commission. The purpose of the meeting was to get public input on the commission's proposal for cutting mercury emissions from the state's coal-fired power plants.

Power plants in North Carolina have been linked to more than 70 percent of mercury deposits in local waters. The deposits have caused state officials to issue advisories warning against consuming largemouth bass, catfish and other predatory fish found in streams, lakes and coastal waters.

The majority of the 28 speakers at the forum favored some sort of state regulation. A draft of the rule will require electric companies to install equipment that would remove ozone, haze and particle-forming emissions. Mercury emissions would be decreased by 60 percent or more by 2013, a news release stated.

A consistent complaint at the meeting, however, was that the proposed law didn't go far enough.

"Why would North Carolina choose to implement a 65 percent average mercury reduction that won't occur until 2013, when a 90 percent reduction for all plants is available and affordable today," asked Heather Jacobs, a riverkeeper with the Pamlico-Tar River Foundation.

Jacobs said small children would particularly suffer under a lax policy. Mercury has been found to cause mental retardation, lowered intelligence and learning disabilities in children under 15, a state advisory stated.

"A recent study said over 14,000 children in North Carolina had unsafe levels of mercury in their body," she said. "Every year the state waits to do something, the more those number will increase.

Representatives from Progress Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy said current technology was insufficient to reach the 90 percent level desired by many in the audience.

"We fully support significantly reducing mercury emissions, but the reductions must be achievable and cost-effective," Progress Energy environment specialist Mike Kennedy said.

The final decision about the proposal is projected to be made sometime in September, Stephen Smith of the Environmental Management Commission said.

Earlier in the day, about 14 people from across eastern North Carolina plucked samples of their hair to be tested for the toxin, which has been found in 22 species of fish across the state. Representatives from the Chapel Hill office of the Southern Environmental Law Center SELC and the Greenville Sierra Club conducted the test at Greenville's Town Common. The results of the tests will be sent to the individuals and won't be made public.

The N.C. Division of Public Health recommends that women of childbearing age and children under 15 refrain from eating any fish high in mercury, which includes largemouth bass or catfish caught in state waters.

The hair test is meant to only be an indicator of mercury in the body, said John Suttles, senior attorney with SELC. A blood test is the preferred method for those who want a more thorough and accurate reading of mercury levels in the body, he said.


FISH TO WATCH

Fetal and childhood exposure to mercury can cause mental retardation, lowered intelligence and learning disabilities, according to the N.C. Division of Public Health. Adult exposure raises the risk of heart disease, heart attack, altered sensation, impaired hearing, impaired vision and motor disturbances. State officials are urging the public, especially children and women of child-bearing age, to avoid eating the following fish to prevent exposure:

• Almaco jack
• Banded rudderfish
• Blackfish (Bowfish)
• Canned white tuna (albacore tuna)
• Catfish (caught wild)
• Cobia
• Crevalle jack
• Greater amberjack
• Jackfish (chain pickerel)
• King mackerel
• Ladyfish
• Largemouth bass (statewide)
• Little tunny
• Marlin
• Orange roughy
• Shark
• South Atlantic grouper (gag, scamp, red and snowy)
• Spanish mackerel
• Swordfish
• Tilefish
• Tuna (fresh/frozen)**
• Warmouth

Pregnant or breast-feeding women and children should avoid eating these fish; others should limit consumption to once a week.

** Different species from canned light tuna.

Source: The North Carolina Division of Public Health and the North Carolina Conservation


Corey G. Johnson can be reached at cjohnson@coxnc.com or 329-9565.